Juncos Racing
The team climbed the ladder of the Road to Indy and after years in Pro Mazda and Indy Lights Juncos Racing made it to IndyCar. The team was originally scheduled to run eight races but ended up competing in 12 of 17 races.
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| René Binder did not leave much of an impression on IndyCar |
The GP2 and Formula V8 3.5 Series experienced driver came to IndyCar and made six starts, four on street courses and two on road courses.
What objectively was his best race?
Binder finished 16th at Barber in a wet to rain delay to dry to wet race. Binder finished ahead of the likes of Gabby Chaves, Tony Kanaan and Zachary Claman De Melo while the Austrian kept the car on the road.
What subjectively was his best race?
He might have finished 21st at Mid-Ohio but he only finished one lap down, the only time he did not finish multiple laps down and he kept the car on the road and out of the barriers. We are grasping at straws here.
What objectively was his worst race?
He finished 22nd twice, St. Petersburg and the second Belle Isle race but we will put St. Petersburg here because it was his only retirement after he got into the barrier.
What subjectively was his worst race?
The entire Belle Isle weekend because for most of it he was not within 105% of the fastest time and arguably shouldn't have been on track. He wasn't going quick enough to get into an incident. In the first Belle Isle race, Binder was the only finisher not to finish on the lead lap and he finished three laps down in 21st. In the second race he finished fourth laps down. To be fair, he wasn't a hazard and didn't cause any headaches to the leaders.
René Binder's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 28th (61 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.1667
Average Finish: 19.833
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| Kyle Kaiser used his Indy Lights title to get to IndyCar but he could not stay in the series |
The 2017 Indy Lights champion moved up to IndyCar with Juncos Racing, a team he has driven for since Pro Mazda in 2014.
What objectively was his best race?
The Californian's best finish was 16th at Long Beach and that was after Kaiser started 24th. He did finish one lap down.
What subjectively was his best race?
An honorable mention would be Kaiser's only lead lap finish of the season in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Nineteenth isn't much to brag about but he did lead two laps through a pit cycle.
What objectively was his worst race?
Unfortunately it was the Indianapolis 500 when the car broke down after 110 laps and placing him 29th. He started 17th for his first Indianapolis 500.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Let's cover all of Kaiser's races and mention Phoenix, where he started 14th, was running well and had a brush with the wall end his race after 174 laps.
Kyle Kaiser's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 30th (45 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 19.75
Average Finish: 21.25
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| Alfonso Celis, Jr. was the first driver to race in both Indy Lights and IndyCar in 2018 |
Celis, Jr. made two starts in Indy Lights at Barber and what was going to be a full-time Indy Lights program with Juncos Racing morphed into two IndyCar races and that was it.
What objectively was his best race?
Seventeenth at Portland.
What subjectively was his best race?
Seventeenth at Portland because it was a lead lap finish.
What objectively was his worst race?
Twentieth at Road America.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Twentieth at Road America and one lap down.
Alfonso Celis, Jr.'s 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 36th (23 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.0
Average Finish: 18.5
Meyer Shank Racing
After competing in last year's Indianapolis 500 in partnership with Andretti Autosport, Michael Shank took his team up to the next level. With a new partner and a new name, Meyer Shank Racing ran six races this season with the team eyeing full-time IndyCar ambitions in the near future.
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| Jack Harvey had some good days but the results do not show it |
The twice vice-champion in Indy Lights got himself an expanded shot at IndyCar with Meyer Shank Racing. He ran last year's Indianapolis 500 as the driver of the Shank-Andretti partnership and he ran the final two races of 2017 driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
What objectively was his best race?
At Long Beach, Harvey finished 12th and he was on the cusp of the top ten for most of the race.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is Indianapolis and though he was fortunate to be running second with five laps to go, Harvey and Meyer Shank Racing had the car second with five laps to go. Don't hate the player. They did what they had to in positioning themselves for victory and in another world it might have been enough but when you are second with five laps to go in the Indianapolis 500 and for a matter of moments you have the world collectively trying to wrap their heads around the potential of Jack Harvey winning the Indianapolis 500 it is the greatest day of your life and Harvey's 16th place finish was probably the greatest 16th place finish of his career.
What objectively was his worst race?
Harvey had a hard accident at St. Petersburg and he was the first retirement of the season, finishing 23rd.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Portland felt like a missed opportunity because he started 13th and when four cars ahead of him were taken out in turn two and Scott Dixon was somewhere in the dust but no longer in the top ten it looked like Harvey was set up for a career day and a chance to stand out. Harvey was up to sixth at the end of lap one. He made his first pit stop and during the second stint he cycled into the top five but then made his second pit stop under caution and put himself in the back half of the field. He lost positions and what could have been a great day turned into a 16th place finish.
How about that? His subjective best and worst races of the season were 16th place finishes.
Jack Harvey's 2018 Statistics
Championship Position: 24th (103 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 0
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 19.333
Average Finish: 17.333
An Early Look Ahead
There is not much to tackle here. I think we saw what René Binder and Alfonso Celis, Jr. can do. Neither is bringing any additional attention of worth to the series. They had the money, got on track, were not terrible but there are definitely at least two-dozen drivers that make more sense being on the IndyCar grid than these two.
Where is Kyle Kaiser? The four-race Indy Lights championship scholarship is better than nothing but it isn't enough and it feels like Kaiser is going to fall into the boat of successful Indy Lights driver who got one crack at IndyCar for a handful of races and that was it. Spencer Pigot was fortunate that after his scholarship was up Ed Carpenter Racing had an open position. Kaiser did not have that luxury and it seems more likely than not his IndyCar career is over.
Juncos Racing is still pursuing IndyCar but full-time participation still appears to be off the radar. The team will be expanding to IMSA prototype competition full-time with a Cadillac DPi. At first it seems like the IndyCar program was dead because the team saw a more attractive route in IMSA prototypes but the team is still into IndyCar. It just appears the IndyCar program will be based on drivers with funding for a handful of races.
Meyer Shank Racing seems set with Harvey and will continue to build to a full-time program but that full-time program will not be in 2019. The talk has been about program expansion from six races in 2018 to ten races next season. The team has the right guy in Harvey. It was a bit disappointing he didn't have that standout race last year. Long Beach was close and Portland could have been it.
With both teams likely returning for a second year of part-time competition it will be interesting to see what the second year looks like for these teams. Can either become competitive to make it out of the first round of qualifying on road and street courses? Can either be competing for top ten finishes in races?
Shank has its driver but Juncos Racing's driver or drivers will remain a mystery for us to find out as the days become shorter and colder.
